


Which Witch

by judgement_xxRx



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: M/M, im a mooni lesbian dont assault me for that porfa, johnil tagged like they just not a glancing sentence sorry johnil hags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-16 15:11:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21273245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/judgement_xxRx/pseuds/judgement_xxRx
Summary: Kun is a twenty-two year old, fully capable magician. And yet he's sitting on this infatuation like he's back in middle school, note in his back pocket while he watches his crush ask another boy to the eighth grade social.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> first fanfic ever but ten millionth attempt at short story telling so. lmao. brain been dry for a minute, but a sentence came to me in a moment and i thought Kun would just be perfect

Humans are, by nature, magicians. The very ability to conceive of the unreal, and make them very real. The need for ritual to configure those manifestations. There’s not much to separate Kun from the people that he passes on the street, going about their days. The woman at the sandwich shop cleans up shop and smiles at customers to attract money. The students he tutors scribble specific words down on dead tree pulp to attract passing grades and knowledge. His classmate Yuta parts his hair just so to attract a girlfriend. 

Kun simply engages in roundabout rituals to get what he needs sooner, in the exact quantity he needs it. He respected the minutiae necessary to approach something larger, however. He had his Bachelor’s, he had his job, and he had his graduate career, all achieved with the day to day drudgery necessary. But some things, he had less patience to acquire.

“Yeri, pass me the branch of holly,” he commanded from the end of the long work table. 

The oracle hummed without glancing away from her phone sitting on the other end of the table, feet on the bench below. Kun tapped his foot, irritated.

“Should you really be asking for my help in such a manner?”

“ _ Please _ hand me the branch of holly,” he conceded. 

She hopped down to search the shelf across. Back to Kun she said, “You know, there are really too many articles on how women feel worthless in the workplace for you to maintain some of the language you use with me”

Kun furrowed his brows, watching her as she made her way with the requested ingredient. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. Yeri hesitated.

“Be honest,” Kun insisted, “I don’t want you to feel worthless and joke your way out of this discussion. Magic has to be used with confidence, you can’t work yours in spaces where you’re not feeling respect”

Yeri rolled her eyes, “Okay, Dr. Phil. It’s just that compared to Hendery, you use more imperatives with me. ‘Yeri, do this’ ‘Yeri, please do this’” she mimicked, “‘Hendery, would you do that for me?’”

Kun ceased the work before him to consider that.

“Huh. I guess I just ask you to do things like that while thinking you’re more…”

“Difficult?” Yeri challenged

“Yes,” Kun sighed, “although I realize I should rethink that now. Thank you, Yeri” he smiled at her. She grinned back at him.

“You’re so nice, it’s a wonder you really think you need to make a love spell”

Kun waved her away, embarrassed to have the apprentices watch this. 

“It’s for someone else,” he mutters.

“For someone else to join you for movie night?” she quips as Hendery enters, bringing the smell of outside with him. Yeri turns to him and sniffs, “Can your little friend change his Juul pod to a flavor that isn’t a bioweapon on the olfactory?”

“Shrimp chips Juul pods are perfectly respectable,” her peer argues, “and unavailable for purchase because it was the result of my first successful spell” 

He bobs his head smugly and Yeri makes a face. Hendery was apprenticed to him as a magician as he was, but Yeri was apprenticed only as an oracle seeking to study magic to bolster her talent of prophecy. Kun ignores them both as he finishes singeing the rabbit’s foot. They each peek over a shoulder to watch as they usually do, and he tries not to be self-conscious. Yeri and Hendery have seen him prepare spells for clear skin. Why should this be any different?

He held up the spell, shifting in shape within the palm of his hand. Airy and ticklish to the touch, unreal head-on, only really having an appearance out of the corner of the eye. 

Yeri and Hendery exchanged a glance, and Kun only continued to watch them expectantly.

“Something about Christmas…” Hendery began, looking to Yeri for help. Her eyes were clouded like a cataract that covered the entire expanse of the eye, whites and all, and focused on the spell.

“Isn’t that cheating?” Hendery whined to Kun.

“A date,” Yeri said smugly, “and I wasn’t looking into the future, I was looking at the spell directly”

Hendery grumbled as Yeri continued, now with clear eyes fixed on Kun, “It’s for a Christmas date”

Kun nodded, mostly satisfied with her answer. 

“Smart of you to figure out how to control your gaze so specifically,” he praised her, “You’ve struck a balance where you’re not inducing a vision but you can see the immaterial,” he turned to Hendery with a smile, continuing, “Of course, Yeri approached this differently, her magic and yours are not the same. Keep in mind she came here not knowing how to keep her gaze in check, and you began your apprenticeship getting migraines from witnessing even the weakest of spells. You just looked at this bare-eyed with only mild discomfort, and basically extrapolated half of what she did”

Hendery nodded and thanked him sheepishly. 

To both of them, “There were details you missed, like the agent, and the expiration boundaries,” Kun ignored the mischievous glints in both their eyes, “But this is sort of a personal spell, so I won’t share the specifics with you, just know you missed those”

Yeri laughed and Hendery mock pouted. 

“Now, I’m leaving early today. You’re welcome to stay and practice any quick spells that won’t explode Joohyun’s study. She’s coming in,” he checks his watch, “half an hour, so you can also choose to watch her prepare another spell to gift her cousin”

He gathers his things as Yeri and Hendery discuss the neighboring university’s Halloween performances and their own Halloween plans.

“Can we invite him to a kickback or is he too mature do you think?” he hears Hendery ask Yeri.

“Isn’t that too unprofessional?” she muses.

Kun pauses just as he’s ready to leave.

“He has ears. It wouldn’t be unprofessional to invite me to personal functions,” he assures her giving her his warmest smile, “I consider you guys my friends too”

“I do feel just a bit too settled to go to anyone’s kickbacks,” Kun admits, adding quickly, “But only  _ settled _ . Not old. Only three years separate us, don’t forget that”

Yeri laughs and Hendery presses his lips in disappointment at the missed opportunity to bully him. He waves goodbye to them and they bid him a good evening. The spell in his bag is cool to the bare touch, but he feels it like it’s a burning sign. Kun sighs. He hadn’t lied about it being for someone else. He was only embarrassed recalling the conversation with his friends on the very matter of his crafting it.

“You’re making a love spell for your crush, but it’s a love spell for them to find  _ someone else _ ?” Taeyong asked from the hideous corduroy bean bag in his own apartment.

“Just for him to find a date,” Kun defended, “Besides,” he argued, “It doesn’t mean I won’t say something. I will eventually, at my own pace”

Taeyong and Taeil exchanged expressions of  _ Is this dude forreal?  _

Kun clapped his hands together, still on the defense, “I am doing this as Ten’s friend. I’m not a straight man, I won’t bang down his door demanding he throws me neck just because I fell on my sword”

“Not all straight men-” Taeil began as Taeyong interrupted him.

“You’re not about to stand on the podium for straight men after what I saw you doing with Johnny last week. But, hey, that’s your favorite futon, not mine”

Taeil sputtered as Taeyong continued this time to Kun, “It’s up to you Kun” he said earnestly, watching him with a glint to his eyes. 

“I just think you should take a stab at this sooner or it’ll eat you alive”

Taeil added, “Dating while you work on your graduate coursework wouldn’t stop your work in its tracks, Kun. You went through undergrad in, what? Three years? And now you’re getting your M.A. with only a summer’s term between the start of your senior classes and this term’s classes. You work like you’re afraid the fruits of your labor will be just out of reach when it’s time to reap those achievements”

Taeyong nodded to punctuate Taeil’s speech.

“You don’t have to do it this week or tomorrow,” Taeil continued, “But just  _ do  _ it, no check, just stripes”

“What?”

“I’m not explaining that hot ass bar to you”

“I caught it and I don’t respect it,” Taeyong responded to Taeil, continuing for him, “But bottom line is, you’ve just gotta cut this out while you can, Kun. Give yourself space away from him, or let him know how you feel”

Kun shakes himself out of the recollection of that conversation to reflect on Taeyong’s final thoughts. He sighed again, turning his own thoughts instead to the class ahead of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rated this teen but theres like a few sentences where you might need to know what poppers are to know what is going on

Kun’s thoughts swam sluggishly, lead in the water.

_ Pony. Boy. He’s my little ponyboy _

_ So I treat him like a ponyboy. _

The overarching music snapped at his eardrums, sharp and imposing. He was trying to find Ten. There was something he had to tell him. Two weeks after he had handed off the spell to Ten hanging out at his apartment, Ten had decided it would be best to maximize the effectiveness of the spell if he presented himself to more prospective dates. Kun had only hummed, not bothering to explain that the spell was designed to be effective in such a consistent manner that he would have gotten a date even if he was a shut-in or an agoraphobe. 

That was yesterday. Now it was Saturday night. Or 2AM on a Sunday early morning?

He had lost Ten in the crowd after catching sight of him smiling up at a man built like a gym advert. He gravitated towards the bar, waiting his turn to ask for something colored neon and strong enough to fuel a forest fire. Three of those later and here he was, watching the room sway around him, dead center of it all.

_ He is just a pony _

_ She is just a pony _

_ They is just a pony _

A man leaned into his space, breath hot on Kun’s ear. He whispered something Kun didn’t catch. Kun drew back, brows furrowed in confusion, pointing at his own ear and shaking his head.

The man tilted a small yellow bottle of some liquid his way and put a finger to his nose, smile cat-like. Kun shook his head dizzily and attempted to smile in apology. The man pouted, and turned, hoping for a successful hunt elsewhere.

_ Pony-ponyboy. _

He catches sight of Ten alone at the edge of the crowd watching, bored, glimpses of him illuminated beautifully in the flashing lights. Kun stared, dazed for a moment before he remembered what he was trying to tell Ten. He gathers himself before he loses any nerve, marching as steadily as he can through the alcohol heating his blood.

_ Pony, pony, boy, boy _

Ten catches sight of him, and seems surprised.

“Hey, beauty-full,” Kun slurs in English, shouting over the music, “Did you come here from heaven? Because you’re the only ten I see”

Ten cracks a smile at that, leaning in to shout back, “You’re stupid when you’re drunk”

“Maybe I’m always stupid and it’s dormant till I’m fucked up,” Kun shouts. Ten only smiles wider.

“I should get you home,” he shouts, “Nobody came up to me for anything serious”

Kun beckons him close to say in his ear, “I have something to tell you”

Ten’s face wrinkled at the proximity of Kun’s booze breath and still asked, “What is it?”

“Did you see Joe…”

Ten looked at him quizzically.

Kun leans in closer, mouth effectively on Ten’s ear now, whispering loudly, “Joe Mama”

Ten rolls his eyes and motions for Kun to follow him to the exit. Kun straggles, sluggish, and Ten reaches behind, interlacing their hands to pull him forward. Kun thanks the depressant in his system, because he knows if he was sober Ten would be picking up the race of his heartbeat right at this moment. He gives a goofy dimpled grin at Ten’s back as they enter the empty parking lot. The chill of the crisp November air couldn’t penetrate either of their jackets, spell-proofed to warm them. 

“Sit on the curb,” Ten commands, phone in hand.

“I’m gonna call us a ride. I thought we were both gonna get drunk,” he huffs, “but I just wasn’t feeling it”

“You can’t drive,” Kun slurs, “we would have needed a ride even if I had driven us here”

Ten only stares at him as he waits for an answer to his call, turning around when he does to talk softly into the phone. 

Kun stares at Ten, trying to recall something. He had to tell him something earlier. Was it... _ that _ ? He tests the firmness of his drunken resolve. He just wants to get it out the way, is all. It’s been bugging him all night.

“Ten,” he calls, as his friend hangs up, “I  _ really  _ need to tell you something”

He’s looking up at him from his seat on the pavement. Ten crouches down to his eye level, keen gaze drilling into him.

“What is it?”

“I really got jealous watching you in there,” he says softly. Ten raises a brow.

“Jealous of what? I was just talking to people. You’re more relaxed when you’re drunk, you could do the same”

Kun laughs at Ten being the clueless one for once.

“Jealous of  _ them _ . I like you,” Kun tells him, voice still soft. Ten’s expression only grows more confused.

“I like you too?”

“No..like,  _ like _ like”

Ten draws his mouth in a line. Kun becomes the confused one now. He was annoyed?

“Are you joking right now?”

“No,” Kun answers, wounded. Ten gives the other man a hard look, and rises from his crouch. It feels like Kun is craning his neck up, up, up into the stars trying to see Ten’s face. He stands up, wanting to have his three inches on him back.

“I’m so serious right now, Ten”

Ten worked his jaw, lips drawn tense, staring up at him.

“Did you think tonight was funny then?”

“What do you mean?” Kun asks, distressed at the anger in Ten’s brow.

“I just don’t  _ get  _ it, Kun,” Ten explodes, “If you like me then why would you make me this spell? Why come to the club to watch me hit on and get hit on by random strangers?”

Kun feels like all the words have been knocked out of him.

“I’m...sorry” he apologizes, unsure. Ten only continues to look at him in incredulity. 

“Can I explain?” Kun pleads just as Johnny’s sedan pulls into the lot.

“I’m not gonna talk to you about this while you’re drunk,” Ten says furiously, “Work that nerve up  _ sober _ , then we can talk”

He schools his expression faster than Kun can process, in time for Johnny to roll down the window. 

“You needed a ride?”

“Yeah, both of us,” Ten answers, calmer than Kun expected him to sound. Ten opens the back door for Kun, expectant. Kun felt like he had just stepped into a moment that someone else had been occupying until they shoved him into it without warning. Shaking his head, he draped himself into the backseat, arm over his eyes. He heard the car door slam behind him and Ten slide into the front. A tense silence filled the car, Johnny looking between Ten beside him and Kun in the rearview mirror, concerned. Reading the room, he remained quiet except to wish Ten good night as he dropped him off before he did Kun. Kun mumbled good night to Ten, sliding into the vacated passenger seat as Johnny watched Ten safely enter the apartment lobby.

“Are you gonna ask?” Kun asks sardonically.

“You obviously wanna talk about it,” Johnny answers, not unkindly, “What are you upset about?”

“I don’t even know,” Kun huffs, “But it seems like  _ he  _ is”

“Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“I told him I  _ liked _ him, and he got mad!”

Johnny hums, dissatisfied with the story.

“What?” Kun asks defensively, and begins “Okay so it’s like, we come here for him to find a date for him before Christmas to help my spell. Things calm down, and I tell him I like him”

Johnny frowns, taking his eyes off the road, glancing at Kun for a second. 

“I feel like,” Johnny draws out, “I am missing a lot of context, man”

“Like what?”

“What’s so special about Christmas?”

Kun shrugs.

“It’s more like he just wants one by then because he thinks it’s romantic? Pisces, you know?”

Johnny nods, understanding that much. He is obviously still chewing on the situation and gearing up for further interrogation when Kun trails loudly, “So you and Taeil...”

Johnny’s face assumes a blankess.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’, man?” Kun narrows his puffy eyes. Johnny turns to glance at him again, brows furrowed.

“I mean mind your business” he mutters, adding in a rush, “Unless he said something about me. Then I love you and it can be your business”

Kun laughs as Johnny pulls up to Kun’s house. 

“Thanks for the ride,” and he adds devilishly before leaving the car, “Since  _ you _ won’t tell me about Taeil he’ll certainly tell me”

Johnny shoots back, meaning to tease too, “And you’ll tell Ten, and he’ll tell me. I have to love the feedback loop”

Kun wishes his friend a good night, hoping his sourness at being reminded of Ten doesn’t show through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOL i personally am proud of my attempt at dialogue w this project so far. personal problems i make for plot often reflect what i and my friends encounter, so whatever is natural for what is in my orbit; if you dont get it thats fine for both of us! these characters are becoming independent of me in fact as spitball portraits so im feeling THEM out too. stream the oil of every pearl's un-insides  
also wow i didn't know notes piled on like this at the end! ^^ i like being clueless with technology

**Author's Note:**

> here's the thing: writing classes cost money...i am poor, and cannot fit one into my schedule. so dear readers, i offer you this: objective commentary for me to post the rest of it. even one (1) comment would help lots (: like, say one thing you liked and one thing you didn't like, or just something you noticed! sacrificial lamb that comments first i will respect you forever even if you say its boring


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